How to transfer music from one iTunes Library to another on the same computer?

Question

I have a ton of music in my iTunes that is also on my iPhone. I want to take my kids' music off my iPhone and put it on another device (a nano) that my kids will use. My kids are young, so they can't have their own iTunes account. I want to have just one iTunes account, but have different "libraries" to use on different devices. I have figured out how to create a new library, but I can't figure out how to move music from one library to another on the same computer (e.g. how to get my kids' music from the library I have now with ALL my music to the library with music just for them). Again, I want to use the same computer and the same iTunes account. Thanks so much for your help.

Answer 1

The easiest way is to create a folder, say on the Desktop, then open that folder. In iTunes, create a playlist, and add all the music you want there. Select all these items, then drag them to the window you opened for the folder on the Desktop; the Finder will copy the music files. Next, quit iTunes, launch it and choose the second library, and add the files by dragging them onto the iTunes window. You can then go back and delete the files in the original library, if you want.

Answer 2

I see two options to solve your problem:

Sync all devices against same iTunes library

• Set up different playlists inside iTunes for different interests
• Restrict Music syncing to specific playlists for the individual iDevices

Set up individual computer accounts (with its own iTunes library each)

• Create a new computer account for the kids
• From your iTunes copy all tracks for the kids into the kids' Drop Box folder
• Switch to kids account, start iTunes and import tracks from Drop Box folder (delete them there afterwards to avoid wasting disk space)
• Use your computer account to sync your devices, the kids' for theirs